Like Silver in the Sunlight
by BurdenedWithGloriousPie
Summary: Guardian or Protector just doesn't sit well with Parker Wildes. The title of Failure would be more her style. Whether she likes it or not, she's part of a 300 year old Covenant of silence. She's the glue that holds this whole secret society thing together. But sometimes when the pieces are broken over and over again, the glue can only do so much before everything collapses.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

* * *

Parker Wildes was not a happy bunny.

She was cold, it was so windy that her dark and bouncy curls kept whipping in and around her glasses, hitting her in the eye so often she was sure she'd go blind (well, ok, _more_ blind), and she was pretty sure she just heard a coyote yelping. She watched as a howling gust of wind caused a few golden leaves to scatter to the ground, and bit back a grunt as one flew into her face.  
"Reid, would you fucking hurry up already?" she grunted, wrestling with the stubborn leaf.

" Couldn't you have waited till we got there?" Parker angrily ranted over her shoulder, careful not to turn around for fear of having her eyeballs melted at the sight of one of her best friends Reid Garwin relieving himself over the well-kept suburban garden of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson.  
"You were late first so I don't know what you're getting so pissed about." He paused, and then called back to her, "who the fuck takes two hours to get ready anyways?"

"I didn't take two hours; I was done in like ten minutes. The other hour and fifty minutes were spent in blissful sleep until you busted into my room uninvited to drag me to some lame-ass party that no-one gives a shit about!" she whisper-shouted, her eyes still trained on the tree in front of her. She pushed her glasses back into place on the bridge of her nose, and let out a grunt of pure annoyance to Reid.

"Parks, chill. I'm done, finished like 2 minu- Ow! what the hell Parks?" He asked, rubbing his arm where she had just punched him.

"Why didn't you fucking say so then?" She muttered, and then cradled her hand to her chest. Damn, why did he have to have such a hard shoulder?

"Because, " Reid trailed off, moving a few steps away from her, as if he knew that his next words would earn him another bruise. "...Missy Thompson just finished unbuttoning her shirt" he winked, turning his attention away from Parker who was now nursing a sore hand and back to the now almost half-naked girl in question who was just about to remove her white undershirt, seemingly unaware of the lascivious eyes that watched from below.

"Is it going to be blue or pink this time?" Reid rubbed his hands together, staring intently up at the window, reminding Parker of those old silent film villains, the ones with the twisted moustaches and twisted minds who always planned to tie some helpless damsel to the nearby train tracks.

"Oh for fuck's sake Reid, you said you were just taking a piss, now is so not the time to be a creeper!"

"Would you chill? She invited me! Said she gets off on someone watching her" He wiggled his eyebrows and bit his lip in what he thought was a seductive move. To Parker he just looked like he stubbed his toe and was trying to hold the pain in.

True to form, Reid then started making loud girlish moans; his high-pitched gasps were making her stomach churn, and not in a good way. It was more than unsettling to hear those sounds coming from one of her childhood friends and she thanked all the gods in the world when he finally stopped those freakish moans. The look of pure innocence on his face, as if he hadn't just been making terrible sex noises, forced a giggle to burst from her lips. Soon the both of them were howling with laughter, clutching their sides in an effort to contain themselves.

"You brought me with you to keep the car company while you jacked off over some hydrangeas?" She asked, her giggle fit had finally calmed down but there was still a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

He shrugged.

He fucking just shrugged at her.

Anyone who had ever come across Parker would say that she was known for two things in the small town of Ipswich; the first being that she never really knew when to keep her mouth shut and the second was that she was incredibly quick to anger. It just happened. One minute she would be smiling and making some inappropriate joke, and the next she would just flip out.

She grabbed a hold of his ear sharply and began towing him back to the muddy black truck parked on the side of the rich suburban road.

"Fucking fuck. Let go! Fu-OW!"

Reid's pain filled howls did not go unnoticed. Loud and vicious barks mingled with his cries and the lights in the large manor had begun to turn one by one.

Missy was now at her window, clutching a blue towel to herself like she hadn't just been playing Daddy's Little Exhibitionist, her eyes were as wide as her mouth and her look of surprise as fake as her boobs. Parker didn't have to be a genius to know that in less than a minute, Harold Thompson would be at the door with a loaded shotgun in hand ready to blow a few holes into whichever Tom thought it would be a great idea to peep through the mayor's keyhole.

"Shit," she muttered, already making her way to the driver's side, "Car, Reid. Now!"

He didn't need to be told twice. Shooting one last look of longing at the now completely lit up house, Reid jumped into the passenger's seat beside her. The car sped away from their crime scene with a screech loud enough to wake the neighbours; both Parker and Reid were far from caring though, as their laughter could be heard even over the rumbling engine. Her annoyance currently forgotten in the thrill of a getaway. When there was a considerable distance between them and the angry mayor, and their laughter had died down to mere chuckles, Parker slowed down to only just above the speed limit.

"The mayor's daughter, Reid?! That's idiotic even for you." she asked. Her eyes narrowed, still trained on the road before her.

His response was nothing more than a sheepish smile.

She bit back an angry rant, and slowed the car a little. The last thing she needed right now was another ticket.

"Next time, I promise I'll tell you first!" Reid said.

Parker's thick black eyebrow arched, getting lost in the dark forest of curls that settled into a somewhat fringe. "Next time? I don't think there's going to be a next time. I doubt Mr. Thompson will keep those dogs chained up in the backyard anymore. Your little stunt probably earned those Alsatians front row tickets to see the up and coming 'Reid gets torn a new one' show."

"My stunt? You grabbed my ear!"

"At least that was all I fucking did!" she seethed. Seeing that he was getting ready to shoot back a retort, she added. "If you hadn't been such a creep, then maybe I wouldn't have to pull your ear like that!"

Realising that he had no way to win this one, he backed down. "Alright, fuck. I'm sorry ok?"

Parker smiled, knowing that she had won. Then again a victory against Reid was just as empty as no victory at all, it was like trying to fight a child.

"God, I swear sometimes you are just like Caleb," he scoffed.

"No way, if Caleb were here he would've-" She broke off, and frowned. "Shit!" her sudden exclamation almost made Reid hit the roof of the car.

"I told him we'd meet them at the cliffs like twenty minutes ago." She put the car back into gear, flooring it until they reached the edge of the forest.

That was where they left the car; its mud streaked body stuck out like a sore thumb amid the expensive, shiny BMWs and gold number plated Bentleys of the wealthy Spenser Academy students, all gathering to celebrate a final drunken farewell to their last days of summer. Though they were quite a distance away, Parker knew from the sounds of cheering and the glow of the fires that the party was in full swing. Whilst the other kids were following the sounds of a beer drinking contest, she and Reid kept walking. Past the path that led to the beach front, and further into the forest until the glow of the party fell far below the horizon, and they could no longer be seen. The ground they walked along was teeming with errant tree roots and debris, and on more than one account Parker had been moments away from planting face-first into the ground.

"I don't see why we couldn't just meet them down there," Parker grumbled, catching herself for the third time after her foot snagged on a broken branch. " But I guess it's more dramatic this way with all of us dropping in and cat-walking it down to the party"."

"Yeah, you know how he likes to show us off." Reid waved her off and chuckled.

"He likes the big entrance that only the _Sons of Ipswich_ can make." She scoffed and rolled her eyes at the nickname given to her friends. _Sons_ of Ipswich, she scoffed internally. She loved her friends to death but even she had to admit it was a stupid nickname, and a sexist one at that. She'd been part of this little group for all of her life but did she ever get any recognition for it? No. These bozos were still alive most of the time because of her and no one really cared.

Reid snickered again, but said no more. Parker knew that he understood she didn't mean anything by it. Between the five of them, it was a running joke how desperate Caleb was to keep up the mysterious and almost untouchable appearance of the Sons of Ipswich; his logic was that if they gave people the impression that they thought of themselves as gods, then so would everyone else thus they could still be in the public eye (there's that freaking ego thing again) whilst maintaining a strict sense of privacy. She hated to admit it but he was right, it was safer this way.

They still had another ten minutes until they reached the cliff where the others were waiting for them, and Parker had had enough of the treacherous ground.

She stopped, forcing Reid to come to a standstill beside her. She could see that he too was growing weary of the trek; every so often his blue eyes would glare at the ground beneath him.

"Do you want to just…" she waved her hands in front of her and wiggled her fingers, knowing that Reid would understand exactly what her gesture meant. She felt a weight settle in the pit of her stomach. She shouldn't have suggested it. There she goes again, encouraging something that she's meant to control and limit.

"Caleb would kick my ass if I let you use." Reid smirked.

Technically it was the other way round, she was meant to stop him from using and if she had a higher power to report to she knew she'd have been in trouble. It had been drilled into her time and time again; using was bad; using was addictive. But it only became detrimental once one of them turned eighteen and came into their full potential (something they called Ascending). At almost nineteen she had already gained hers, and soon Caleb would too.

"But," he continued, "I guess our Lord and Master doesn't have to know everything."

That made her smile. Caleb did have a habit of thinking he was the boss. It was endearing at best.

"Who said I'm doing anything?" she asked and then mentally kicked herself. She prayed someone would strike her down, to stop her mouth from moving. Why was she pushing this? "You still owe me one from that time I set your exam papers on fire."

"Alright fine," he conceded, holding his hand out to her. "But after this we're even, okay? I don't owe you anything. I want a clean slate."

"Speaking of clean..." She trailed off, warily eyeing the unwashed hand Reid held out to her, her lips not even bothering to hide their disgust as they hitched into a grimace.

"What?" He blinked at her.

"Really?" she asked, rolling her eyes as she explained her sudden urge to empty the contents of her stomach all over the forest floor. "Reid, there is no way I'm touching that! I know what it was just holding... Although I suppose if I did it would probably be the closest you ever get to a girl touching your-"

"Okay, that's enough!" Reid interrupted.

He rolled his eyes, and then they burned. The whites of his eyes were consumed in an explosion of flames licking at the black stones that were once blue-grey irises. Parker watched as a thin wisp of grey smoke wound around his hand, (that sinking feeling in her stomach only getting stronger) covering it completely. The flash of fire faded away, and Reid's stone coloured eyes slowly emerged from the flames.

He flexed his hand as the smoke dissipated, and held it out to her again. This time, she gladly accepted, and watched as his eyes once again flickered with fire.

She thought about how late they were and how the guys would react to them using again. That feeling got heavier until she remembered how much the rest of them still use. Just last week she caught Pogue fixing some problem with the motor of his bike without any tools, and Tyler had passed his math test even though she knew for a fact that he slept through the whole thing. So really she wasn't _that_ terrible. Terrible at her job maybe, but these guys don't exactly make it easy for her.

She knew Caleb was going to be a little more than a little pissed off and for once it made her smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

This was bad. This was really bad. The small little voice in Parker's head that often governed the way she protected (argh that word) the boys was going into overdrive. Getting Reid to use his magic to clean his hand wasn't the greatest idea in the world but it was hardly going to kick-start a lifelong addiction. Teleportation on the other hand was a whole different ball game; getting from point A to point B without even having to take one step was something she could definitely see becoming a habit.

More like life threatening obsession, the voice squeaked. The power was addictive. everyone knew that. When you feel that first rush of fire, three hundred years' worth of power, move through your entire body it's the first time you feel truly invincible. The Sons of Ipswich may be powerful but they were still teenage boys. And teenage boys were not invincible. That's why she pretty much existed; to keep the boys from getting addicted and using their magic to destroy themselves from the inside. Though she despised calling herself it, she was their Protector. At least they think that's why she existed. As far as they knew, with what little information they could get, she was meant to be the guardian of their covenant of silence. A super-secret magical society would not be complete without a super-secret magical book with all the rules on how to be most secret and best magical society ever. Their top-secret book of magic spells and sordid history, the Book of Damnation (what kind of drama queen gave it that name?) had mentioned her but, seeing as it was for the most part a long-winded pile of misogynistic bull shit, it remained incredibly vague about Parker's part in all of this.

From what she remembered, its yellowing pages had been seething with exhaustive information on the witch hunts that destroyed the lives of many innocent women in the 17th century and how the families of actual magical folk had banded together to keep their gifts a secret (something which Parker thought was incredibly selfish and cowardly); there were apparently five founding families (one of them buggered off) and the remaining four made a pact of silence to cover their asses. It would go on for pages about how when the first-born male of each family hit puberty he would get awesome powers and would level up when he turned eighteen and Ascended, becoming a bona-fide full blooded witch. With entire chapters devoted to helping guide these boys through their already confusing time (as if), Parker found it entirely unfair and frankly ridiculous that she only had one line that mentioned her. One tiny line, hastily scribbled onto the corner of a faded page, in the entire fucking book about her and even then, it didn't really make sense to anyone.

 _Should our secret ever fall under threat, one will rise to defend and protect the sanctity of this covenant until-_

That was all the book directly mentioned about her. Sure, it occasionally said that every other century or so the bonds might be tested and another party would be required to keep the peace (probably her) and often went on to waffle about things being rewritten with the blood of a traitor and the ultimate sacrifice (again, fucking drama queens) but a few pages later it also talked about using the power to keep your farm animals' sperm count high, so they didn't really take it too seriously.

It bugged her though. When she first showed signs of having the power everyone freaked out; they didn't know it was possible. It was only foretold that magic could be given to the first born from a family within the Covenant. As far as she knew her family had no ties to the big-wig magical families of Ipswich. Since the book seemed to speak of an unaffiliated third party, the elders eventually figured that it had to be about her. So, that was that. Half a sentence and it might not even be hers.

Her friends got guidance on everything from influencing the elements to magical shaving tips and she didn't even get a full fucking sentence. Sometimes Parker would catch herself wondering just exactly what the end of her sentence was.

Until what?

Until the secret got exposed?

Until the so-called threat was eliminated?

Or until she got eliminated?

If she thought about it too hard, she'd end up having a major existential crisis.

She mentally shook herself and focused on Reid. For the second time that night, she watched his eyes burn as he performed yet another potentially addictive act. She gripped his hands tighter.

She felt the air whoosh out of her as the ground lurched from beneath her feet.

Her beaten up boots made a crunching sound as they landed on the gravel of the cliffs. The sounds of overlapping chatter and beer fuelled laughter became closer and wind blew heavier through her hair. She would never ever admit it to the boys but to this day magic still fascinated her. It was hard to wrap her head around the fact they had just been in one place and now another by simply just imagining it. Despite the Elders' many lectures and warnings, anytime one of them performed magic she would be in awe of it all over again. After the awe, however, came the crushing guilt.

A few feet away, overlooking the party, stood the rest of her friends. Pogue Parry, with his long brown hair whipping around in the strong winds, stood off to the side of the cliff with Tyler Sims, who had his hands shoved in the pockets of his leather jacket. Pacing along the edge of the cliff was Caleb Danvers, no doubt cursing the shit out of Parker and Reid for being late again.

Ipswich, Massachusetts was nothing if not a small town and so it's privileged residents hardly ever stepped a toe outside of their own social circles. The families of the Covenant were no different. Like any group of tight-knit no good troublemakers, the boys had all known each other since diapers; the friends you made in rich kid kindergarten were the friends that stayed with you for life, even if you were forced together by some weird unseen bond. Though Parker's family didn't originally belong to the Covenant, as a child she gravitated towards their group, becoming fast friends with the four boys. Caleb's father used to say that she was drawn to them, like there was this innate part of her that knew she was meant to be a part of the group.

Her mom called it destiny.

Parker called it bullshit.

In her eyes, she was friends with them because she made to the choice to be, not because of some archaic grand force of will. She chose to be friends with Reid because he brought out her wild side; Tyler because he needed someone to be there for him; Pogue was like her brother and she was an only child so there was no question about that friendship. And Caleb, well, he was basically her soul mate. Not in the romantic sense. She cringed internally at that thought; her childhood crush on him had died a long time ago, probably around the same time she saw him eat five consecutive mud pies on a dare.

She let go of Reid's hands and bounced over to Caleb, catching him as he was turning for another lap. Before he could turn his famous scowl on her she collided with him into a bear hug.

"What's up fellas?" Reid asked as he trailed in behind Parker.

"Where were you?" Caleb asked Reid over Parker's shoulder, which really wasn't all that hard given that she was a full foot shorter than him.

"I stopped by to give you a lift." Tyler added.

"Had things to do."

"More like bushes to piss on", Parker mumbled under her breath.

Caleb shot her a quizzical look, she offered him a toothy smile in return, and then pulled out of his arms to greet Tyler and Pogue with hugs as well.

"How's the party?" Reid asked, eyeing up the gaggle of drunken girls on the shore.

"Don't know. Just got here." Pogue said in a far-away tone. She frowned, what's got him so distracted?

"Well, hell, boys…" Reid began, "...let's drop in."

"Reid!" she whisper-shouted, watched as he just fucking stepped off a cliff.

Pogue pulled her backward as she moved to look down the cliff, hoping that Reid was okay.

"Parks it's okay, chill out. This is a party. You too, Caleb. It won't kill us yet." Before she could grab at him, Pogue jumped off the edge.

"You're here to protect us from some big bad. I don't think a cliff is the big bad". Tyler shrugged, and then followed suit, leaving her and Caleb alone on the cliff.

"What the fuck is wrong with you idiots?" She whispered over the edge, "Do you want me to go prematurely grey?"

"Just this once I guess." Caleb said with a rueful smile, and held out his hand to her but she was already shaking her head.

"Caleb, I can't. I'm not-"

"I know, it's fine. I got you, don't worry so much."

He grabbed her, holding her close. She gripped his coat so tight that she thought her fingers would snap off. He took a step forward and suddenly gravity just vanished. She buried her face into his chest, drawing in a deep breath. Her senses were flooded with his woodsy scent.

That old phrase her mom used to say ran through her mind as the wind rushed passed her.

 _If all your friends jumped off a cliff, would you do it too?_

* * *

A/N

Phew. wow, sorry that took so long. I'm just really lazy, but hey I'm working on it. Hope whoever is reading this liked this chapter, I tried to give just a bit more info on who Parker is and it kinda turned into a fucking encyclopaedia. Woops.

Anyhoo, Happy New Year peoples!


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